Times Of Swaziland: STILL NO PAY FOR  3 553 NEW TEACHERS

STILL NO PAY FOR  3 553 NEW TEACHERS
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BY NOSIPHO SHONGWE on 25/03/2014 04:43:00


MANZINI – At least 3 553 teachers have not received their salaries for March.
Of the 3828 teachers hired as permanent and contract teachers this year, only
275 have received their pay for this month.
Those who have not received their salaries are some of the 695 permanently
employed teachers  and this has caused major confusion among them on what
criteria was used when they were paid.
At least 3 033 contract teachers will only get to know their fate next week as
their salaries are still being processed.
consecutive
Numerous teachers have approached the Swaziland National Association of Teachers
(SNAT) to report hardships as a result of not being paid for the third
consecutive month.
SNAT Secretary General Muzi Mhlanga, in an interview, said the Teaching Service
Commission (TSC) met with them last Friday to discuss the challenges that
resulted in the teachers not being paid on time.
“The president of SNAT Sibongile Mazibuko and I met with the Teaching Service
Commission where we were informed that the TSC accounts department was having
difficulty processing salaries  due to the fact that they had hired a large
number of teachers who all needed to have their particulars processed and added
to the Government wage bill,” Mhlanga said. He said the meeting came at a time
when they, as SNAT, had received numerous complaints from their members
concerning the non-payment of salaries.
“It is unfortunate that teachers are the only civil servants who are expected
to work for over three months without receiving remuneration and this is
beginning to worry us as SNAT,” Mhlanga noted.
He mentioned, however, that during the meeting they had convened with the TSC,
they were assured that officers within the accounting department were working
around the clock in an effort to reduce the backlog and process all teachers
salaries so that they could work harmoniously in schools.
The TSC Chairman, Simanga Mamba, agreed that they were, indeed, faced with a
serious backlog in terms of processing salaries of newly-employed teachers.
He pleaded with the affected teachers to bear with the commission as they were
working tirelessly to ensure that all the delays are a thing of the past.
“We do have a problem and have noted, with concern, that a number of our
newly-hired permanent and contract teachers have not received their salaries
since being hired,” Mamba said. He, however, said the commission would ensure
that all the teachers received their salaries next month and pleaded for calm.
“We have hired a very large number of teachers and the process starts with us
hiring teachers, through to the Public Service before they are processed at the
Treasury department. These are some of the reasons why we have experienced these
delays,” he explained.
Mamba apologised to all teachers in the country who have still not been paid. He
promised that all outstanding teachers will receive salaries for the month of
April.
He also revealed that plans were ongoing to ensure that at least half of the 3
033 contract teachers received their salaries at the end of this month.
He did, however, state that this was still ongoing and stressed that he hoped
that 1 500 will receive payment and those who won’t be paid this month will
definitely be paid the next month.
Mamba also revealed that those who were hired in January stand a good chance of
receiving their salaries when compared to those who were hired in February and
March as their particulars were still being processed.